Police find 170 marijuana plants in a Oak Lawn,Illinois back yard

Michelle L. Farnum did not seem surprised when Oak Lawn police knocked on her door Monday afternoon.

Asked if she knew why officers were there, the 46-year-old woman had no doubt.

"Yes, because of what I have growing in my back yard," she said, according to police. "My marijuana plants."

All 170 of them, according to police.

Farnum, who told officers she recently had suffered a stroke, was charged with production of marijuana and possession of marijuana, police said.

"She made a comment to the guys that she was using it for her medical issues," Oak Lawn police Division Chief Mike Kaufmann said. "But just because of the sheer number, we had no choice but to charge her."

Farnum also told officers she believes marijuana should be legalized, that she never sold or gave away her crop and that it was all for her personal use, according to police. She said she did not like drug dealers.

She has no prior arrests, according to Kaufmann.

It was an anonymous tip that led authorities to Farnum's small, neat-looking bungalow at 9322 S. 54th Ave., which has a high wooden fence in both the front and back. But the tipster had the wrong address, sending police to a neighbor's house at first.

Once there, they spotted a single marijuana plant growing in the neighbor's back yard. The homeowner claimed ignorance, saying he had no idea it was the illegal herb. Then an officer spotted Farnum's ganja garden next door.

After opening with what amounted to a confession and signing a sheet permitting a search of her home, Farnum proceeded to take officers on a tour, pointing out the plants in her yard, according to police.

Calling herself "old school," Farnum explained that she dried her plants by hanging them on clothes lines in her shed, according to authorities.

On a table inside her home, officers allegedly found 130 grams of marijuana and 145 grams of marijuana seeds. When asked, Farnum revealed she owned a gun, directing police to a .25 caliber pistol she said was her grandmother's, according to police. She was charged with possession of a firearm without a valid firearm owner's identification card.

Judge John Hynes set Farnum's bail at $7,500 on Tuesday, according to authorities.

Police are holding the plants, waiting for them to dry so they can be bagged and sent to the state police laboratory for testing, Kaufmann said.